ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement in a defamation lawsuit filed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. The resolution involves ABC News paying $15 million to a charitable foundation associated with Trump and an additional $1 million to cover his legal fees.
The lawsuit originated from remarks made by Stephanopoulos during a March interview with South Carolina GOP Representative Nancy Mace. Stephanopoulos repeatedly claimed that a jury had found Trump guilty of raping writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump argued that these statements were defamatory and misrepresented the jury’s findings.
E. Jean Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in a department store in the mid-1990s and later defaming her by denying her claims. In 2023, a jury ruled that Trump sexually abused Carroll but did not find him liable for rape under New York law. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages for battery and defamation, followed by an additional $83.3 million in early 2024 for further defamatory statements made by Trump. Despite these rulings, a judge clarified in August 2023 that while the legal definition of rape was not met, Trump’s actions could be considered rape in a broader, colloquial sense.
Trump’s defamation suit against ABC News argued that Stephanopoulos’ comments were false, malicious, and intended to harm him. The case was allowed to proceed in July 2024 after a judge noted that the dispute hinged on whether the statements were “substantially true.” Trump’s legal team contended that the repeated claims about a jury finding him guilty of rape misrepresented the actual legal outcomes.
The settlement agreement, finalized on December 15, requires ABC News to make the substantial financial contribution to Trump’s planned foundation and museum. Additionally, the network has agreed to issue a public apology to Trump for the statements made during the broadcast.
